Researchers Discover Possible New Target To Attack Flu Virus

Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered that a protein produced by the influenza A virus helps it outwit one of our body's natural defense mechanisms. That makes the protein a potentially good target for antiviral drugs directed against the influenza A virus.

Better antiviral drugs could help the millions of people annually infected by flu, which kills up to 500,000 people each year.

When an influenza virus infects a human cell, it uses some of the host's cellular machinery to make copies of itself, or replicate. In this study, the researchers discovered that a protein produced by human body cells, DDX21, blocks this replication process. They also discovered that a protein created by the virus, NS1, in turn blocks DDX21 and promotes viral replication.